IxD10

In this session Matt Cottam will present a recent project entitled Wooden Logic: In search of Heirloom Electronics. The project represents the first phase in a hands-on sketching process aimed at exploring how natural materials and craft traditions can be brought to the center of interactive digital design to give modern products greater longevity and meaning.

The tactile controls of an electronic, interactive product form its
most recognizable aspects, or “facial features.” Choosing which
controls to use and how they appear has an enormous impact on the
impact the product makes on first impression. The process of deciding
on your product’s facial features is tricky; a team must collaborate
closely across multiple disciplines to determine what controls are
needed, how they should appear and how they relate to the product’s
form.

In the half-century since the first transistor was invented we’ve
seen radical changes in how humans interact with computers and digital
systems: We’ve gone from punch cards to text commands, from mouse
pointers to touchscreen gestures, from menus to voice recognition.

What all of these user experience innovations have in common is an
inexorable movement towards interfaces that behave more and more like
the way real humans have interacted with one another for millenia.

What role do interaction designers have in service design? What is
service design? How is it different from interaction design? Or is it
not? This talk will explore these questions by looking at service
design projects, including a project with the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center Neurosurgery Clinic. As an interaction designer with
service design education and experience, I will offer my insights what
skills and methods interaction designers need work in this emerging
area of design.

As more and more design challenges move from artifact to service,
and from service to system, the considered role of interaction design
has become an imperative. But in the arena of design for social impact,
the power of interaction design, deliberately paired with appropriate
products, can make for an explosive combination.

Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lot from watching.” Over the
last several years, a unique set of students has been challenged to
think about design for healthcare services. In my role as a professor
at Carnegie Mellon I had the opportunity to observe their work and it
offered many insights into design, design thinking, and just how big
the healthcare service challenge is. In my new role in Microsoft’s FUSE
lab I’m looking at the future of social experience.

There are many potential relationship catalysts: an enticing
homepage design, a well crafted page found via search, an easy-to-use
application.

Writing engaging copy for an online application is more than a set
of useful instructions on process. If your process is that intuitive,
it probably doesn’t need much copy anyway – what do you do then? How do
you draw people in, make them feel part of something bigger and open up
the dialogue?

As interaction designers we do well at facilitating the complex
dialogue between people and the interactive products they use. But we
often neglect to consider the story that evolves through the
interactions people have with the things we make. Designing with a
narrative in mind can make a difference between a product that merely
functions well and a product that engages the minds, emotions and
imaginations of users.